U.S. President Donald Trump has officially started his unprecedented second state visit to Britain, welcomed with grand royal pageantry at Windsor Castle. King Charles and the royal family hosted a carriage procession, military flypast, and lavish banquet, marking what Britain calls the largest ceremonial welcome for a state visit in living memory.
Trump, a vocal admirer of the monarchy, expressed delight at being the first U.S. leader and elected politician to receive two invitations from a British monarch. "I Love King Charles," he declared earlier this year on Truth Social.
The visit comes at a pivotal time for the UK’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who hopes to strengthen the "special relationship" with Washington. High on the agenda are trade talks, billions in U.S. investment, tariffs, nuclear energy, and cooperation on Ukraine. Google and other firms have already announced major deals. Trump confirmed before departing the White House that he was open to refining trade terms, calling the existing agreement "a great deal."
Day one focused on ceremony, including meetings with Prince William and Princess Kate, a wreath-laying at Queen Elizabeth’s tomb, and a state banquet where both the king and president delivered speeches. Security was tight, with over 1,600 officers deployed across Windsor and London to manage protests led by the "Stop Trump Coalition."
Despite differing worldviews—Charles’s decades-long environmental advocacy versus Trump’s nationalist stance—the occasion provides global visibility for the king and a diplomatic stage for Starmer. Thursday’s discussions at Chequers will turn to geopolitics, though lingering controversies, including Epstein-related scandals and free speech debates, threaten to overshadow the historic event.